Jamie Kutch walks through the rows of Pinot Noir grapes he will use for his wine this year Thursday July 17, 2014. Winemaker Jamie Kutch is fond of the coastal Pinot Noir grapes in Sonoma County he uses for his wines. He visits the Falstaff vineyard near Sebastopol, Calif. to check on the grape growth. less

Jamie Kutch walks through the rows of Pinot Noir grapes he will use for his wine this year Thursday July 17, 2014. Winemaker Jamie Kutch is fond of the coastal Pinot Noir grapes in Sonoma County he uses for his ... more

Winemaker Jamie Kutch (left) stops to talk with vineyard owner Ron Lougheed during a recent visit Thursday July 17, 2014. Winemaker Jamie Kutch is fond of the coastal Pinot Noir grapes in Sonoma County he uses for his wines. He visits the Falstaff vineyard near Sebastopol, Calif. to check on the grape growth. less

Winemaker Jamie Kutch (left) stops to talk with vineyard owner Ron Lougheed during a recent visit Thursday July 17, 2014. Winemaker Jamie Kutch is fond of the coastal Pinot Noir grapes in Sonoma County he uses ... more

It's not great form in the news business to announce you have nothing to report. But where the 2012 Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma Coast are concerned, the lack of news may be a relief.

After all, reports from recent vintages have been tough. Mild, cool 2009 began this stretch - and my heart admittedly goes to these wines, which at their best were beautifully complex and deeply flavored. But 2009 was a time when many winemakers were in the throes of a hard-hitting style of Pinot Noir. The vintage did not do well by that style. It was a year of opportunities missed.

I hesitate to call the 2011 vintage entirely bad news because it yielded some transcendent wines. But it will be remembered as one of the coldest years in a long time, with no small number of failures. The 2010 wines weren't nearly so tough, but they were as uneven as the year's weather.

And then come along the 2012 Pinot Noirs, a sigh of relief. The best of these are charming, pleasurable wines. If they were a Buzzfeed article, they'd be a flood of cute puppies riding tricycles. I mean that in a nice way.

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I'm dwelling on vintages here because the Sonoma Coast can still be a spot where a marginal climate means something. The appellation is a throwaway that covers half of Sonoma County - including some balmy corners. But it also contains some of the most marginal, most interesting sites for Pinot Noir in the New World, places where nail-biting is still a competitive sport.

So when farmers dream, they dream of the generosity that comes in a year like 2012. I loved the best 2011s for their nervous energy, but the best 2012s show a mellower grace.

They also have a kinship with those 2009s. Together, these two vintages bookend the current debate about what California Pinot Noir in California should be. In 2009, restraint was still something of a naughty word; four years later, it is being broadly - if by no means universally - embraced.

The 2012s offer both the opportunity for restraint and plenty of sunshine in their flavors. I tasted it in wines like those from Failla and Ceritas, which brought a full bowl of fruit to the party. And in a wine like Papapietro Perry's 2012 Campbell Ranch, a parcel 5 miles from the ocean. From a producer that has embraced powerful flavors in the past, here was a nod toward nuance.

It could be seen, too, in the completeness of Carroll Kemp's Red Car wines, which similarly have gone through stylistic warbles . The 2012s are the most fully formed I can recall.

One knock against such wines is that they lack intensity. To which I would point doubters to a lineup like Jamie Kutch's 2012s. Not only has Kutch notably reversed his style of winemaking toward restraint, but he has embraced the use of grape stems in fermentation - one of the most controversial topics in Pinot Noir - as few others have, to good effect. The 2012s were fermented with all their stems; they have structure to spare, and no shortage of ripeness.

This isn't a reversion to the Pinots of California past so much as evolving into a confident new approach to the grape.

Not everyone shares that view. The Sonoma Coast is hardly exempt from the usual amped-up approaches to Pinot, and the 2012s revealed more bottles than in recent years trying to do a pastiche of ripe Zinfandel. Really, there was no need for such surreal creatures.

Not every great vintage needs to be a challenge. If the 2012s from the Sonoma Coast don't make for bold headlines, perhaps no news turns out to be very good news indeed.

More names to look for

The 2012 Sonoma Coast wines from these producers may be in particularly limited supply, but worth trying if you find them:

-- LaRue

-- Littorai

-- Papapietro Perry

-- Siduri (Hirsch bottling)

-- Williams Selyem (Precious Mountain bottling)

10 Sonoma Coast stars from 2012

2012 Red Car Platt Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($68, 13.4% alcohol): Platt, sitting just above the town of Bodega, yielded an effort that's juicy, musky and almost leathery in its texture. The fruit is plummy and liqueur-like. It's a counterpoint to the Heaven & Earth ($68, 13.1%), from a 4-acre plot north near Occidental, which matches its typical rusty, spicy side (imagine cinnamon red hots and turmeric) to a red-fruited complexity.

2012 Kutch Falstaff Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($59, 12.9%): This late-ripening vineyard near Freestone is the source for what's often the most structured, yet bright-fruited, of Jamie Kutch's wines. No difference here. A high degree of grape stems add tannin of the sort that commend a stay in the cellar. Energetic Bing cherry flavors and a sage-accented herbal side round out a great example of coastal Pinot.

2012 Failla Pearlessence Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($45, 13.6%): Ehren Jordan makes a good case for Goldridge soils, in this case from a 2-acre parcel near Sebastopol. Pearlessence tends to show muscle and musk, and this has both. In the meantime, Failla's straight Sonoma Coast bottling ($35, 13.9%) has similar dark-plum flavors, but is a bit readier to enjoy right now.

2012 Lioco Laguna Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($38, 13.1%): This blend of fruit from a lower-elevation site near Santa Rosa with a bit of Hirsch is a great calling card for Lioco, and current winemaker John Raytek's style with the wines. Full of cherry liqueur, apple blossom and a fresh, dark fruit presence. A perfect balance between sultry and juicy; enjoy it now.

2012 Ceritas Hellenthal Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($60, 12.5%): John Raytek has tapped into one of the coast's great little-known sites for his Ceritas label. Hellenthal is almost directly next to Hirsch, planted in 1980 to Calera-clone vines on their own roots. It shows the power, tannins and plum-skin chewiness typical of that Fort Ross neighborhood, with a savory oak tone and kirschy warmth on the end. Powerful stuff, utterly finessed.

2012 Keller Estate El Coro Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($52, 14.2%): Located in the Lakeville area near Petaluma, Keller shows the possibilities on the appellation's eastern side. Broad-shouldered flavors don't diminish from the remarkable tension of this forthcoming release - tangy minerality edged by rich oak, bayberry and ripe cherry, and a musky overtone that ties it all together.

2012 La Follette Sangiacomo Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($42, 13.7%): Greg La Follette has worked with this site just east of Rohnert Park for many years, and in the 2012 he produced a curious balance of opulence and tangy red fruit, two things that don't often appear together. Burnished and spicy, with a coppery tangerine side and a stylish tree-bark accent.

2012 Peay Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($42, 13.8%): While the Peay designate wines seem wound up right now, their appellation bottling - a mix from their Annapolis estate and the nearby Campbell vineyard - has more direct and gratifying fruit. Sultry wood and cassia tones open it, mixing with dark cherry and bayberry, plus roasted lemon and cloves.

2012 Hartford Court Land's Edge Vineyards Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($50, 14.5%): There's a suppleness even with the size of this effort from Kendall-Jackson-affiliated Hartford Family - great toasted clove and mineral accents, luscious cherry and raspberry flavors, and a lingering sweetness.

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